City Planning Commission

PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2025 HELD VIA ZOOM & IN PERSON AT CITY HALL Planning Commission Members Present: Joe Mann, Tom Sahlberg, Jim Baumker, DG Garcia, Charlie Jencks, Dale Robbins, and Phil Folyer. Adjunct Member(s) Present: Gene Heuschel and Troy Mullenix Staff Present: Lisa Key, Amy Mullerleile, and Kathy Cummings Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. Roll Call: A quorum of members was present. Commissioner Mann asked that everyone stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Review of Agenda: Commissioner Jencks motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Commissioner Folyer. The motion was approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Jencks motioned to approve the June 11th meeting minutes, seconded by Commissioner Robbins. The motion was approved unanimously. Workshops: GHG Sub-Element Goals & Policies: The consultants from Parametrix, Maddie Cheek and Beth Miller, returned to present the next layer of detail of the draft goals and policies for the city’s greenhouse gas reduction sub-element. Background information was provided describing how these draft goals and policies were developed with a focus on the main sources of emissions in the City of Liberty Lake. Maddie asked that the Planning Commission review and provide feedback to determine readiness of recommending the draft for City Council approval for planning purposes, and WA State Department of Commerce’s review and pre-approval. Interactive discussion amongst the commission, staff and the consultants included questions on feasibility, cost, and effectiveness of energy strategies. Further discussion included future land use planning, transportation network, and alternate technology. Draft policies were to be refined based on Planning Commission input, and staff stressed the importance of having implementation strategies in place. Commissioner Folyer motioned to recommend to City Council the approval of the Greenhouse Gas Sub-Element Goals and Policies as presented, seconded by Commissioner Sahlberg. The motion was approved unanimously. Urban Design Chapter Redlines & Revisions: Senior Planner, Amy Mullerleile presented the proposed edits to this chapter for the comprehensive plan update, which includes a change to the chapter title from Urban Design and Community Character to just Urban Design. She explained that the changes consist mostly of rewrites to provide clarity and summarization. She requested that the Commission review and provide feedback on the language being presented. Some of the members of the Planning Commission expressed concerns about a paragraph marked for deletion within the chapter introduction. Commissioner Garcia made a motion that Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 1|2 June 25, 2025 this paragraph be included with the previous paragraph, seconded by Commissioner Robbins. A vote was taken, and the motion was defeated 4 to 3. Review of the remaining chapter edits continued with only minor discussion and were finalized. Commissioner Mann complimented Amy on how these chapter edits were completed and presented. Citizens Comments: None Secretary’s Report: Director Key shared the upcoming Public Engagement Schedule and ongoing engagement. Sign Code survey is currently underway and encourages anyone that knows business owners or community members that would like to participate, to please promote the survey. Also, the Parks Plan survey is underway and is already receiving a lot of good feedback. The virtual open house for resiliency is starting in July. It was noted that volunteers are needed to work Barefoot in the Park in the afternoon of August 2nd. Community Engagement will also have their booth there. Commissioner Reports: Commissioner Mann highly recommends that the commissioners work the booth at the Farmer’s Market. When he worked at the booth, he had met some residents that were new to the city, and they had expressed how excited they were about everything that is going on within the city. The experience speaking with the residents was encouraging and well worth the time. Adjournment: Commissioner Jencks motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Garcia. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:56 p.m. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2|2 June 25, 2025